FEBRUARY 15 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1493 – While on board the NiñaChristopher Columbus wrote an open letter on the 15th February 1493, which was widely distributed upon his return to Portugal, describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.

1764 – The city of St. Louis, Missouri was established on the 15th February 1764.

1946 – ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, was formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on the 15th February 1946.

1948 – Art Spiegelman the American cartoonist was born on the 15th February 1948.

1951 – Jane Seymour the English actress was born on the 15th February 1951.

1954 – Matt Groening the American cartoonist, screenwriter, producer and author was born on the 15th February 1954. Matt Groening created the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) as well as 2 successful television series The Simpsons and Futurama.

1952 – King George VI was buried in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on the 15th February 1952.

1959 – Ali Campbell the English singer-songwriter and guitarist from UB40 was born on the 15th February 1959.

1965 – A new red-and-white maple leaf design was adopted as the flag of Canada on the 15th February 1965, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.

1971 – The decimalisation of British coinage was completed on Decimal Day on the 15th February 1971.

1972 – Sound recordings were granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time on the 15th February 1972.

2001 – First draft of the complete human genome was published in Nature on the 15th February 2001.

2003 – Protests against the Iraq war took place in over 600 cities worldwide on the 15th February 2003. It was estimated that between 8 million to 30 million people participated, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.

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